Foundation changeover now official

The University of Georgia will officially cut ties with the UGA Foundation today, but not much will change for donors, employees or administrators.

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In April, the University System Board of Regents instructed UGA President Michael Adams to sever the university's official relationship with the UGA Foundation. Regents rules require 90 days notice for the termination of the cooperative agreement.

But the UGA Foundation's transition from the university's official fund-raising body to an organization that cannot raise money in UGA's name has been "slow and steady," said Steve Wrigley, UGA vice president for external affairs.

The UGA Foundation will continue to manage the university's $475 million endowment and can continue to accept donations. Its mission - to support the University of Georgia - remains unchanged.

The recently formed Arch Foundation will solicit and manage new donations as the university's official fund-raising body.

Questions?

University officials created a Web site to answer commonly asked questions about the UGA Foundation and the Arch Foundation. To access the site, visit www.uga.edu/externalaffairs/arch.html.

Most of the changes will be "completely unnoticeable to the outside world," Wrigley said. Donations and gifts will be processed by the same people in the same ways.

The UGA Foundation will pay the university for the work done by UGA employees for the foundation.

Those employees will still solicit funds for the university, but now will ask on behalf of the Arch Foundation instead of the UGA Foundation.

And when employees answer the telephone, they will likely say "UGA External Affairs" or "development," instead of "UGA Foundation."

There may be some changes for the UGA Real Estate Foundation, which is owned by the UGA Foundation and therefore also will separate from the university today.

"The issue for us continues to be whether we'll do business with the university going forward," said Eric Orbock, president of the real estate foundation, which finances some construction projects for the university.

The two projects under construction now - the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences and a renovation of a facility in Cortona, Italy - will continue as planned, Orbock said.

But the future of the real estate foundation is still uncertain, he said.